Rolling stand, particularly for the shaping of a cast bar immediately upon leaving a continuous casting plant

ABSTRACT

A rolling stand, particularly intended for shaping a cast bar immediately upon leaving a continuous casting plant, is described, comprising two horizontal roll supports having their ends connected by a fixed crossmember on one side and a releasable cap on the other side to form a cage wherein a pair of vertical rolls mounted in inserts is arranged to be horizontally displaceable for adjustment of the roll gap. According to the invention the entire rolling stand including the rolls is detachably mounted on a base frame to be vertically removable therefrom, said base frame containing two transmission gears releasably connected for rotation with the roll shafts and enclosed in suspended casings which are moveable together with said rolls; the drive is located below floor and comprises driving spur wheels which are larger than the meshing drive-off spur wheels of the transmission gears by at least half the adjustment range of the rolls to maintain a stress-transmitting engagement of the gearing irrespective of any shifts occuring on roll gap adjustment.

United States Patent Hinterholzl [451 Mar. 21, 1972 [54] ROLLING STAND,PARTICULARLY FOR THE SHAPING OF A CAST BAR IMMEDIATELY UPON LEAVING ACONTINUOUS CASTING PLANT [72] Inventor: Ernst Hinterholzl, Linz, Austria[73] Assignee: Vereinigte Osterreichische Eisenund StahlwerkeAktiengesellschaft, Linz, Austria [22] Filed: July 24, 1969 [21]Appl.No.: 844,337

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr 23, 1969 Austria ..A 3911/69[52] U.S. Cl ..72/249 [51] Int. Cl. ..B2lb 31/08, B2lb 35/00 [58] Fieldof Search ..72/238, 239, 249

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,31 1,075 2/1943 OMalley..72/249 X 2,513,058 6/1950 Sheperdson et al ..72/249 PrimaryExaminer-Francis S. Husar Attorney-Brumbaugh, Graves, Donohue & Raymond[57] ABSTRACT A rolling stand, particularly intended for shaping a castbar immediately upon leaving a continuous casting plant, is described,comprising two horizontal roll supports having their ends connected by afixed crossmember on one side and a releasable cap on the other side toform a cage wherein a pair of vertical rolls mounted in inserts isarranged to be horizontally displaceable for adjustment of the roll gap.According to the invention the entire rolling stand including the rollsis detachably mounted on a base frame to be vertically removabletherefrom, said base frame containing two transmission gears releasablyconnected for rotation with the roll shafts and enclosed in suspendedcasings which are moveable together with said rolls; the drive islocated below floor and comprises driving spur wheels which are largerthan the meshing drive-off spur wheels of the transmission gears by atleast half the adjustment range of the rolls to maintain astresstransrnitting engagement of the gearing irrespective of any shiftsoccuring on roll gap adjustment.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PAIENTEDMARZI I972 3,650,139

SHEET 2 OF 3 FIG? INVENTOR. EENs r f/INTER H61. z L

[Z02 4 M r-4 #15 I4 TTURA/E Y5 ROLLING STAND, PARTICULARLY FOR THESHAPING OF A CAST BAR IMMEDIATELY UPON LEAVING A CONTINUOUS CASTINGPLANT The present invention relates to a rolling stand, particularly forthe shaping of a cast bar immediately upon leaving a continuous castingplant, with two roll supports in which a vertical pair of rolls with itsinserts is arranged to be horizontally displaceable, the roll supportshaving a rigid cross-connection on one side and a detachable capconnection on the opposite side.

The problem with continuous casting plants and in particular withmulti-bar continuous casting plants is a space-saving arrangement of therolling stands used for further shaping of the castings subsequent tothe casting process. The aim is to achieve the closest possibleside-by-side arrangement of the rolling stands so that the tundishlocated above the continuous casting molds may be small and any loss intemperature of the liquid steel kept at a minimum. The individualrolling stands have also to be placed in the closest possible tandemarrangement. Due to the low casting speed the feed speed of the castingin the rolling stands is much smaller than with conventional rollingtrains, resulting in an undesirably high loss in temperature in thecasting to be shaped in case of considerable distances between theindividual rolling stands. The compact structure of the rolling standsmakes roll changing rather difficult and time-consuming. As rollingstands following continuous casting plants cannot work independentlyfrom the casting and melting operations, any roll changing or exchangeof rolling stands, respectively, must be carried out as quickly aspossible in cases of a change of the rolling program or repairs so thatthe metallurgical operations will remain unaffected.

According to the invention this problem is solved by detachably mountingthe entire rolling stand inclusive of the rolls on a base frame so thatit is vertically removable therefrom, two gears enclosed in a gearcasing being suspended side-by-side within the base frame and the rollshafts engaging with said gears.

Suitably each gear casing is detachable connected with a roll shaft, thegear casings being horizontally displaceable together with the rolls toallow the adjustment of the roll gap.

The roll shafts are preferably designed as spline shafts or as two-edgepieces and the bevel gears detachably arranged thereupon have adequatelyshaped bores.

The drive of the rolling stand according to the invention is locatedbelow floor in a base pit. The drive is preferably suspended from thebase frame, the driving gear being connected with the gears locatedinside the gear casings by spur wheels which are wider than thedrive-off spur wheels inside the gear casings by at least half theadjustment stroke of the rolls, so that their displacement does notresult in the disengagement of the spur wheels.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood it will bedescribed by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a rolling stand with a sectional view of thesuspended driving gears,

FIG. 2 is a side view, and

FIG. 3 a plan view of the rolling stand.

Rolls 1, 2 are mounted in inserts 3, 4 being horizontally guided inU-shaped roll supports 5, 6. At one side the roll supports 5, 6 arerigidly connected by a cross connection 7 and on the opposite side by adetachable cap connection 8 to form a cage-like unit. Numerals 9, 10,l1, l2 designate hydraulically operated cylinders for the adjustment ofthe rolls 1, 2.

The roll shafts l5, 16 designed either as spline shafts or twoedgepieces can be connected with the bevel gears 20, 21 located in the gearcasings I7, 18 and having adequate bores.

The gear casings 17, 18 are suspended in a base frame 28 and thereinhorizontally displaceable along the guides 34, 35. The base frame 28consists of the two longitudinal supports 29, 30 held together by twodetachable cross-connections 31, 32 and a fixed cross-connection 33. Thebase frame 28 is secured and fixed to the base 36 by centering bolts andanchor screws. The rolling stand A is fixed to the base frame 28 byseveral centering devices 43, 44, 45, 46 and secured by hydraulicallyoperated clamping devices 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 fixed to the base frame28 or its cross-connections 31, 32, respectively, and acting from belowon the roll support 6, said connection being quickly and easilydetachable. In detail the clamping devices consist of the hydraulicallyoperated cylinders 47, 48, the levers 49, 50, and the clamps 51, 52.

The gears arranged displaceably in the base frame 28 consist of thebevel gears 20, 21, which can be connected with the roll shafts 15, 16and are in engagement with the bevel gears 22, 23. The bevel gears 22,23 together with the spur wheels 24, 25 are each fixed to a common shaft26 and 27. The spur wheels 24, 25 are in engagement with the spur wheels41, 42 of the drive 38, the spur wheels 41, 42 being wider by at leasthalf the adjustment stroke of the rolls 1, 2. The drive 38 with thedriving gear 39 and the motor 40 is located in a base pit 37 or-as shownin FIGS. 1 and 2suspended from the crossconnection 33 of the base frame28.

The torques required for shaping the casting are transmitted by thedrive 38 via the spur wheels 41, 42 to the spur wheels 24, 25, which dueto the greater width of the spur wheels 41, 42 cannot become disengaged.From the spur wheels 24, 25 the torques are transmitted to the bevelgears 22, 20 and 23, 21, respectively, and to the rolls 1 and 2,respectively.

The removal of the rolling stand A is effected upon opening the clampingdevices 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 by vertical lifting, e.g., by means of acrane. The roll shafts 15, 16 are accordingly disengaged from the bevelgears 20, 21. The hydraulically operated cylinders 9, 10, ll, 12, andthe lubricating spots of the rolling stand A are coupled to theirpertinent connecting lines by means of rapid-action connections, notshown. Said connections have to be released before removal.

Other assembly activities on the rolling stands, such as roll changing,adjusting the roll gap, the axial adjustment of the rolls and the like,as well as repair and maintenance tasks are done outside the steel millat roll workshops, a fully assembled and adjusted rolling stand beingmeanwhile installed in the rolling train. The provision of an exchangerolling stand allows short-term unproblematic roll changing with minimumstoppages.

What I claim is:

l. A rolling mill assembly for shaping rolling stock includingcontinuously cast bars comprising,

a base frame,

two horizontally displaceable gear casings suspended sideby-side in thebase frame,

two transmission gears, one of the transmission gears enclosed in eachof the gear casings,

a drive in communication with the base frame and adapted to drive thetransmission gears,

a rolling stand detachably mounted on the base frame,

a pair of horizontally displaceable vertical rolls mounted in therolling stand,

a pair of shafts, one of the shafts rigidly connected to each of therolls and projecting downwardly therefrom, and

the shafts in releasable rigid engagement with the transmission gears, ahorizontal displacement of the rolls providing a similar andcorresponding displacement of the gear casings.

2. A rolling mill assembly for shaping rolling stock includingcontinuously cast bars comprising,

a base frame,

two horizontally displaceable gear casings suspended sideby-side in thebase frame,

two transmission gears, one of the transmission gears enclosed in eachof the gear casings, and each transmission gear having a drive-off spurwheel,

a drive in communication with the base frame and having a driving gearwith a pair of driving spur wheels,

a rolling stand detachably mounted on the base frame,

a pair of horizontally displaceable vertical rolls mounted in therolling stand,

a pair of shafts, one of the shafts rigidly connected to each casings,and

of the rolls and projecting downwardly therefrom, the the driving spurwheels being wider than the drive-off spur shafts in releasable rigidengagement with the transmis- Wheels y at least One-half f the maximum hizon l displacement range of the rolls.

sion gears, a horizontal displacement of the rolls providing a similarand corresponding displacement of the gear

1. A rolling mill assembly for shaping rolling stock includingcontinuously cast bars comprising, a base frame, two horizontallydisplaceable gear casings suspended side-byside in the base frame, twotransmission gears, one of the transmission gears enclosed in each ofthe gear casings, a drive in communication with the base frame andadapted to drive the transmission gears, a rolling stand detachablymounted on the base frame, a pair of horizontally displaceable verticalrolls mounted in the rolling stand, a pair of shafts, one of the shaftsrigidly connected to each of the rolls and projecting downwardlytherefrom, and the shafts in releasable rigid engagement with thetransmission gears, a horizontal displacement of the rolls providing asimilar and corresponding displacement of the gear casings.
 2. A rollingmill assembly for shaping rolling stock including continuously cast barscomprising, a base frame, two horizontally displaceable gear casingssuspended side-by-side in the base frame, two transmission gears, one ofthe transmission gears enclosed in each of the gear casings, and eachtransmission gear having a drive-off spur wheel, a drive incommunication with the base frame and having a driving gear with a pairof driving spur wheels, a rolling stand detachably mounted on the baseframe, a pair of horizontally displaceable vertical rolls mounted in therolling stand, a pair of shafts, one of the shafts rigidly connected toeach of the rolls and projecting downwardly therefrom, the shafts inreleasable rigid engagement with the transmission gears, a horizontaldisplacement of the rolls providing a similar and correspondingdisplacement of the gear casings, and the driving spur wheels beingwider than the drive-off spur wheels by at least one-half of the maximumhorizontal displacement range of the rolls.